1:24-cv-02279

D. Colo.

Mar 11, 2025

RONALD L. FELTS v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Civil Action No. 24-cv-02279-GPG-MDB

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

March 11, 2025

Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell

Document 41

MINUTE ORDER

This matter is before the Court on Defendant‘s Motion for Identification of Consulted Professionals and Court Verification of Certificates of Review. (Doc. No. 23.) For the following reasons, the Motion is GRANTED.

Per Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-602(3)(b), courts have discretion to “require the identity of the...licensed professional who was consulted,” and “verify the content of such certificate of review.” See also Redden v. SCI Colorado Funeral Services, Inc., 38 P.3d 75, 83 (Colo. 2001) (“While we observe that initially the statute requires [a party] only to ‘declare’ that an expert has determined a negligence claim has merit, once a court seeks verification, it is incumbent upon [the party] to substantiate the certificate by demonstrating that a duly qualified expert does not consider the claim to be without ‘substantial justification.‘“).

Upon review of the briefing and consideration of the facts and law, the Court finds good cause to require the disclosure of Plaintiff‘s experts. Because Plaintiff raised the matter, and because it can be a threshold issue in early dispositive motions, addressing it now will be most efficient. To the extent Plaintiff believes a certificate of review is not required in the first place, he can make the argument at a later date, in response to a motion to dismiss, for example.

Specifically, the Court ORDERS that on or before April 21, 2025, Plaintiff shall provide to the Court the name and contact information for the experts he references in ECF [17] and on or before that date Plaintiff shall also submit affidavits signed by the experts, in which each expert affirms that he or she: 1) has reviewed Plaintiff‘s claims in this case, 2) has expertise that is directly relevant to the alleged negligent conduct in this case, 3) has been consulted about this case and has reviewed the known facts, records, documents, and other relevant materials, and 4) has concluded that Plaintiff‘s professional negligence claims are not substantially frivolous, substantially groundless, or substantially vexatious. See Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-20-602(3)(a); § 13-17-102(4).

Plaintiff may either publicly file the documents in question through standard filing procedures, or if he does not wish to disclose this information to Defendant, Plaintiff may mail this information directly to Chambers for in-camera review. The mailing address is Colorado Springs Courthouse, 212 N. Wahsatch Ave., Suite 100, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. Plaintiff can also email the documents to Chambers at Braswell_Chambers@cod.uscourts.gov, if email is available to him.

Additionally, it is ORDERED that Defendant‘s deadline to answer or otherwise respond to the Complaint is vacated at this time and will be reset at a later date.

The Clerk of Court is directed to mail a copy of this Minute Order to Plaintiff:

Ronald L. Felts
#36428-013
ENGLEWOOD
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
Inmate Mail/Parcels
9595 WEST QUINCY AVENUE
LITTLETON, CO 80123

Dated this 11th day of March, 2025.

BY THE COURT:

Maritza Dominguez Braswell

United States Magistrate Judge